Success Advice
10 Things Every Entrepreneur Can Learn From The TV Show ‘Shark Tank’

Of all the reality TV shows that I have seen, nothing can come close to ‘Shark Tank‘ when it comes to sharpening one’s entrepreneurial and negotiation skills. It gives participating entrepreneurs an opportunity to present their business proposal before five accomplished investors (sharks) on stage and ask for an investment in return for a stake in their company or venture. Naturally, it is a tough spot to be in. Most people take away something from the show, either a check, valuable advice, or a great experience.
Here are ten things entrepreneurs should learn from the TV show ‘Shark Tank’.
10 Lessons From The TV Show Shark Tank:
1 – A good product is great if it cannot be duplicated:
A product that is patented or cannot be easily duplicated easily wins the interest of the sharks. Good entrepreneurs usually have safeguards to prevent competition from coming up easily. This is essential to the long-term profitability of the business. Do everything you legally and ethically can to slow down, disadvantage or keep out the competition.
2 – Don’t reject valuable advice:
Every business negotiation is an opportunity to learn. Even if you lose the deal, don’t lose the lesson. Even when the sharks refuse your deal, they often give you their reasons, opinions and advice about the way forward for your business.
This is something that you can’t get for free, not from people as experienced as the ones at the Shark Tank. Don’t let these valuable tips get lost in the cloud of disappointment.
3 – Know your financial position inside out:
In her book, ‘Shark Tales: How I turned $1000 into a billion dollar business’, Barbara Corcoran stresses the importance of being prepared. Successful entrepreneurs are well prepared before any negotiation. The sharks usually make light of entrepreneurs who are unable to specify their exact sales or profit and instead choose to be vague, for example, a statement like, ‘My profit is between $100,000 and $ 200,000’ reflects poorly on how well you know your own business.
How can you possibly expect someone to take an informed decision from such a statement? So, know your figures well, whether you choose to disclose it or not is another issue altogether.
4 – Do your arithmetic before you enter the Shark Tank:
Make sure that the proposal you bring to the negotiation table makes sense and is something that the opposite party will consider seriously. The sharks are very good at valuing businesses and if you get this wrong, you are likely to walk out with nothing. There is no point in asking for $85,000 for a 10% stake in a company which has no sales yet or which has an unproven business model. This is like saying, ‘Heads I win, tails you lose’.
If it works out, the investor doesn’t gain much and if it turns out to be a dud, then the investor loses.
5 – Don’t underestimate the value of expertise:
In any deal, don’t just look at the money, give due value to the expertise or other benefits the deal brings you. For example, each shark has their own network and expertise which comes from them taking a stake in your company.
Think about what it will do to your sales and brand promotion. Take the example of the company M3 Girl Designs whose founder was offered $300,000 by Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner. She insisted on having Robert Herjavec also in the deal before she accepted it. She got a much better deal in the form of added expertise even though everything else remained the same.
6 – Know the people you are negotiating with:
Many people have lost deals because they tried to take the negotiation too far. Some homework on the successful deals with the sharks would have prevented this from happening.
When Mark Cuban says that he is making a final offer, it is a final offer. Try negotiating further and you lose the deal. This need not be true for everyone. So knowing the negotiation style of the people with whom you are dealing with is an advantage.
7 – Never shift your goal posts:
Mark Cuban offered one entrepreneur what he asked for, but the person tried to negotiate a better deal and eventually ended up losing it. Nobody prefers to do business with someone who keeps asking for more because the person could do that again in the future.
8 – Know the limits of what you can accept:
This is very important in any negotiation. If the experts in the Shark Tank get the idea that you are not sure of how low you can go, they will sense that there is more scope for negotiation. One entrepreneur decided to think things over before deciding to accept or refuse a deal and in the meantime the sharks lowered the offer further. The other problem is that you could end up accepting something which you would not have accepted if you knew your limits.
9 – Let them know that you have other options:
You will never come out from a negotiation with a good deal if that deal is your only option. Even the option to refuse any deal is better than having no option other than accepting whatever comes your way. This is true for any negotiation. Have other options and let the other side know about it.
10 – When you negotiate, highlight your strengths and hide your weaknesses:
The sharks are experts at finding out your weaknesses. Recheck your pitch to see if they highlight your strengths and hide your weaknesses. Any weak links in your pitch are likely to get exposed and this will put you at a disadvantage in the negotiation process. Instead, play on your strengths to gain the confidence of the opposite party.
(Video) Shark Tank – Selling An Idea To The Sharks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfte58Xc-3Y
These are the ten most important lessons that you as an entrepreneur can learn from the ‘Shark Tank‘. The show is indeed a valuable experience for the participants and the viewers.
Success Advice
Mastering Self-Management for Success: Lessons From Peter F. Drucker
With careers no longer following a straight, predictable path, self-awareness and adaptability are essential for success.

In today’s dynamic professional world, self-management has become increasingly important. With careers no longer following a straight, predictable path, self-awareness and adaptability are essential for success. (more…)
Success Advice
How to Ignite the Spark Within for Future Success
All of us come to this world with our own reserve of magic unfortunately, not everyone can unleash it

What is it that makes some people great leaders while others remain followers? What magic do they have that others don’t? What special blessing gives them the power to bring significant change? (more…)
Success Advice
How Your Beliefs Can Supercharge or Sabotage Your Success
Your life is dictated by beliefs and biases that drive your thinking, behaviors, and decisions

Pause for a moment and ponder two pandemic-era beliefs: First, closing schools will control the spread of a serious virus. Second, the consequences of such school closures—particularly social interruption and the prevention of immunity—are worse than becoming sick with the virus. (more…)
Success Advice
How to Break the Cycles of Mediocrity and Manifest Your Greatness
There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity

In just a few weeks, we will be wrapping up 2023. Can you believe it? This year has been absolutely incredible for me.
I have seen amazing doors opened, new relationships formed and I am seeing dreams realized in my life. While this seems like the hallmarks of a great year, this has also been the most challenging year of my life. With all of the change happening in my life, I have been forced out of my comfort zone and challenged to grow in every area of my life.
I can truly say that I have made the most of my moments this year and I have used everything as a catalyst for maximizing my greatest potential.
As a revolutionary leader, I have the pleasure of consulting and advising leaders around the world to fulfill purpose, realize their greatest potential and make an impact.
I want to share some insights with you that will help you to break cycles of mediocrity and manifest your greatness.
Everything legal must come through the matrix
I am sure that some of you are wondering why I am using the term matrix. However, what you have to understand is that I am trying to make a highly complex spiritual principle practical to understand.
Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, every life has an origin and I believe that origin is divine and begins with eternity. You are birthed from eternity and into time to fulfill a unique purpose and assignment in your lifetime and generation.
The matrix is simply the portal or vehicle that brings something out of the invisible realm and into tangible form. The problem with much of the teaching today is that it excludes the matrix. We are told to believe that success is instantaneous and overnight.
Nobody talks about how a dream progresses through stages beginning with visualization and ultimately culminating in manifestation. Without a matrix or portal then everything that you attempt to birth and build will be illegal.
The matrix not only makes you legal but it gives you the authority and power to function as the greatest expression of who you were created to be.
Every matrix has an incubation process
While many people admire and respect me today, I remember a time when nobody knew who I was or the significance of my message. How did I get to where I am today? I got here through an incubation process.
In other words, everything that has been destined for your life is incubating and awaiting a set time of manifestation. The problem is that most people live their entire lives idle and never initiate the incubation process.
What do I meany by that? Most people are living reckless and very few people are living intentionally. I am amazed at the number of people I have conversations with that have no vision, goals or strategies for their lives. They show great promise and they have undeniable potential.
However, without development they will die with their dreams still in them.
Everything that has been destined for your life must be incubated and converted to become realities born to time.
“Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blueprint and begin to build.” – Robert Collier
You must give expression to that which is not yet born to time
When you think about a matrix or a prophetic incubation process, you have to understand that potential is often unrealized and untapped. In other words, your potential is in raw form and your potential cannot serve you as long as it is untapped.
The thing that makes me valuable is that I have the ability to convert potential into power. I have done it in my own life and I have empowered leaders around the world to do the same. How do you convert potential into power?
First, it is important to note that you have to perceive potential. If you cannot perceive your potential then you can never cultivate your potential. In addition, you must take the time to cultivate your potential. We often get excited about our capabilities; however, we never expand our capacity in order to realize our greatest potential.
In other words, the strength of your potential is only discovered through your willingness to stretch. The more we are challenged the more we are empowered to expand our capacity for greatness. Most of all, you must begin to express your potential. The expression of potential is different for every person.
For example, the expression of my potential is best demonstrated through the thoughts, ideas, products, services, books, etc.
For another person the expression of potential may look like a screenplay, artwork, sports, scientific discoveries, medical breakthroughs, etc.
Regardless of the form of expression, I know that you will live empty and unfulfilled until you make the decision to express your potential. The expression of your potential gives voice to your dreams, life to your vision, significance to your moments and activates your true power.
You must manifest your greatness
As a revolutionary thinker and leader, my work has impacted people around the world. I am grateful that my life is a source of empowerment to so many people. However, before anyone could ever benefit from my life, I had to make a non-negotiable decision to become who I was born to be.
I wish I could tell you that this journey is easy and that you will get there overnight. However, in a world that celebrates us for doing we are often criticized for being. As a result, I wasted a lot of time trying to be who other people wanted me to be instead of being who I was born to be.
There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity. It is through our bravery to be vulnerable that we ultimately manifest our greatness. We do not bless the world by being a duplicate. We bless the world when we honor our difference. When you honor your difference you honor your potential.
Ultimately, your difference is how you manifest your greatness.
When you present anything but your authentic self to the world, you are playing small and you are robbing the world of your significance. Manifesting your greatness requires you to master your gifts.
-
Success Advice4 weeks ago
Here’s a Young Man’s Antidote for the Uncertainty of the Modern World
-
Success Advice4 weeks ago
How to Break the Cycles of Mediocrity and Manifest Your Greatness
-
Success Advice3 weeks ago
How Your Beliefs Can Supercharge or Sabotage Your Success
-
Life2 weeks ago
If Your Work/Life Balance is Out of Tune Here’s What to Do
-
Entrepreneurs3 weeks ago
The Blueprint to Becoming a More Mindful Leader
-
Life2 weeks ago
5 Surprising Ways to Turn Imposter Syndrome into Your Greatest Ally
-
Entrepreneurs2 weeks ago
When It Comes to Selling Your Business, Make Sure to Have This in Place
-
Entrepreneurs2 weeks ago
Unlocking the Minds of Entrepreneurs: 5 Insider Secrets Revealed
4 Comments